SA Tennis Open Preview
ATP tennis at its best returns to South Africa for The SA Open February 1-7, 2010. All the action will be held at the Montecasino tennis complex in Johannesburg.
The ATP 250 event will feature a strong field again this year. World top 10 player Gael Monfils will be joined by last year’s runner up Jeremy Chardy, David Ferrer, and Feliciano Lopez of Spain as favorites this time around.
Tennis is huge in South Africa, and last year’s event was the first ATP level tournament in South Africa in 13 years. The Montecasino resort remains a major sponsor and its 6,000 seat stadium got rave reviews from all the players.
Filling out the draw will be young Swiss pro Marco Chiudinelli, Marc Giquel, and Florent Serra. American serve and volley player Rajeev Ram and veteran Xavier Malisse of Belgium will also be making the trip to South Africa. German Nicolas Kiefer is slated to play as well, after he has been out with injuries on and off for the past couple years.
It’s a great field, and the locals will have Rik deVoest to root for as he was granted a wildcard into the main draw. Look for Monfils or one of the Spaniards to be lifting up the trophy come Sunday, February 7.
